“Lessons from the Tree House” is the latest in the series “Lessons from the Homestead” by Carol J. Alexander. You haven’t heard of Lessons from the Homestead? Until recently, I hadn’t either. Wow! Have we been missing out. If you are a homesteading homeschooler or a homeschooling homesteader you need to check this out. Carol not only has these booklets ($3.99 for each download) but a blog and newsletter, too.
Many of us may see both lifestyles as one, fully integrating the learning with chores and taking on new homesteading projects based upon something encountered in a lesson. For the families that don’t and keep school as a separate part of their day you will find something in these lessons, too. It has always been so helpful (and encouraging) to find many of the little lessons (and miriad questions) throughout our day correlate to “real school learning”. If you want to add more of this “living” type learning to your homeschool, this booklet (all in the series, really) provides just the help you need to get started. If you are familiar with the earlier “Lessons….”, you’ll notice that “Lessons from the Tree House” is divided a bit differently than the two previous ones. You will find lessons and activities for math, science, art and language arts, just organized for the project.
“Lessons from the Seed Catalog” and “Lessons from the Hen House” are divided by ability. Lessons for young learners, intermediate and older learners are separate. In “Lessons from the Tree House“, the learning activities are divided based upon the stage of the project – Designing, Building and Enjoying. There are still plenty of activities for all ages. Younger learners can learn about the different tools involved in building, older children can draw plans. For the type of project, this division works best to keep everyone together — family learning. If your homestead is like ours, everyone has a job. If they don’t, we find one for them. 🙂
The lessons aren’t just designing a tree house and learning carpentry (and the associated safety) skills. You will find activities for learning about trees – going as deep as your learner desires. You can choose which of the activities to incorporate into your day. There are plenty of links to helpful websites, lists of books for all ages – both for fun and learning. There are ties to Scripture, making this project an excellent object lesson if you so choose.
We do not have plans to build a tree fort or house, so you might think there isn’t much we could use. Well, let me tell you, we found much we can use. While we are not building the specific project, we are always working on other projects around the homestead. We will be building frames for square-foot garden beds, feeder boxes for the chickens (and somehow figuring out how to keep the sheep out of it as they will be sharing the same yard) and I’m sure many other necessary projects in the next few months alone. All of the skills and lessons can apply just as well to these projects. As I’m sure you know, homeschoolers and homesteaders are great at adapting!
There are great ideas to fill anyones needs, from experienced to novice. If you have a full schedule with your existing studies, you may find this the perfect project to tackle when you break for summer. Be sure to check out the other booklets in this series from “Lessons from the Homestead” by Carol J. Alexander.
How would you like to win your own copy of the e-book “Lessons from the Tree House?” Just follow the easy steps in the Rafflecopter below to be entered. One winner will be chosen at random. Entries accepted through midnight EST Thursday May 10th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclaimer: I received “Lessons from the Homestead” to review in order to share this with you. I was not required to write a positive review; all opinions expressed are my own.